Fire-escape.



A. WIGHERTJES.

FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 23, 1912.

1,078,759. Patented Nov. 18, 1913.

4 SHBETS-SHEET l.

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FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 23, 1912.

HIHH HIM Patented NOV. 18, 1913.v

4 SHEETSSHEET 2.

Mr/vzsszax kvmwraw ATTO/F/VI)" A. WIGHERTJES.

FIRE ESCAPE.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 23, 1912.

1,078,759. Patented N0v.18, 1913.

V4 SHEETS-SHEET 4:.

COLUMBIA PLANOORAPH co.,wAsHLNu1'oN; D. c:

is a top plan view of the upwardly extendfrom the line 7-7, Fig. 2; Fig. 8.is a longi ,bers over which the chain for extending the extensibleportwn passes; Fig. 10 1s a,

11 is a view similar to Fig.7 showing the 'of the end joints of the extensible members;

ber comprises a plurality of double links 2 each connected to pivots 6 (Fig. 2), and it gether, theFwhole member comprised of AREND WICHERTJES, or CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

rIRE-Escarn.

Application filed September 23, 1912; -Seria1No. 721,996.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, Arum) WICI-IERTJES, a subject of the Queen of the Netherlands, and a resident of Chicago, Illinois, have invented certain new and useful'lmprovements in Fire-Escapes, of which the following is a specification. p

The essential object of this invention is to provide a fire escape of that type which; can be carried upon a wagon or truck and which can be extended so as to reach. the' upper stories of abuilding whichumay be on .lire, and thus-eaiford a means of escape totl1e.occu )ants ofsuch a building.

In the drawings, Figure 1' is anelevation of the invention in extended position; and mounted upon the truck or wagon; Fig. 2 is a view taken at right angles to Fig. 1 though showing the truck in the. same position as depicted in Fig. 1; Fig. 3

ing section of the device; Fig. 4: is a side elevation showing'the chains and other appliances for ext-ending the extensible por-. tion in dotted lines; Fig. 5 is an enlarged detailed view of the parts shown at the bottom of Fig. 3; Fig. 6 is an enlarged de-Q tailof the clutch or lockingdevices shown in Fig. 5 and takenat right angles to said Fig.5; Fig. 7 is a View looking downwardly tudinalsection on the line 88, Fig. 7 Fig. 9 is a deta led view of one of the memview taken at right angles to Fig. 9; Fig.1

parts which are-placed in the broken-away section of Fig." 7; Fig. 12 is a view taken at right anglesto Fig.10; Fig. 13 is an enlarged detailed view which is typical of any and Fig. 1 1 is a View taken at right angles to Fig. 13.

The extensible member carries'the platform 1 which is adapted to be raised or lowered as desired. Said extensible mem- (see Fig.'13) and single links 3, allof these links being pivoted upon a shaft 4:. Said shaft 4 is encircled by the collar or sleeve 5, Fig. 13. -The' members 2 and 3 are also is obvious,'therefore, that if the lower ends. of-thelowest links 2 and 3 be pulled to- 1 slots.

forth in slots 12on sides 13.

the inner sides of the members 7 13.

arms or links 2 and 3 and pivot members 1 and (Swill expand or be extended and the platform 1 which iscarriediatthe upper end will be elevated.- In other words, to pull the lower ends of the'lowest links or the rods 7 which cross connectisaid lower a j endstogether will elevate the platform 1;

whereas, topermit the members-7 to recede from-each other will lower-the platform 1.

-As best shown in Figs. 2 and 4,the sides of theplatform 1 areslotted-at 8 and rods 9, which are carried upon the topmost arms of the extensible'member, pass through said As the extensible member is ex tended, the rods 9 will approach each other, but as said member is permitted to collapse and the platform 1 to lower, the rods 9 are spread apartfrom each other.

In a simple device of light weight constructi'on it. would be entirely feasible to elevate-=the platform simply by pulling the rods 7 toward each other,but in actual practice with a fullsiZed-maChine,merely to pull said members 7 together would simply break or bend said members and would not elevate-the members 2 and 3, it being obvious from the detailed description that the members 2 and 3 merely comprise a huge lazy-tongs.

its best shown in- Figs. 1 and 13 there are two links 2 andone link 3 on each side of the machine, and the lower ends of the lowermost links are connected together by rods 7, Fig. 2. Saidrods 7 move back and In lieu of slots 12 guideways may be provided upon As the rods 7 are pulled toward each other by means hereinafter more-particularly described, the platform lat the top of'the lazy-tongs is elevated. The frame-work members lei-and 15, Fig. 2, are secured to the sides 13 and members 13, 14, and 15 together with the top 16 comprise a substantially rectangular frame, the members of which are rigidly bolted or united 'together. But one such frame is visible-in Fig. 2 although it will appear from Fig. 1 that there is .a rectangular frame upon each side of the device.

The members 14 support a pair of arms crank 21 and carries a ratchet 22 controlled by a pawl 23. The shaft 18 also bears a housing 24 and the spring 25 has one end secured to the shaft 18 within the housing and the other to a pin 26 upon the bracket 17, the foregoing construction being best shown in Figs. 2, 9 and 10. A somewhat similar construction is to be found supported from the frame members 15, the brackets 27 on the left-hand side of Fig. 2 being adapted to support a shaft 28 which bears a drum 29 to which one end of the chain 30 is secured. Each sleeve 5 (Fig. 13) carries a sprocket wheel 31 over which the chains 20 and 30 are adapted to pass, and'each of the pivot members 6 may be provided with a sleeve upon the under surface of which'the chains ride. Below the shaft 28 and journaled in the frame members are shafts 32, 33, and 34 (see Fig. 2) each carrying sprocket wheels or pulleys overwhich the chain 30 is adapted to pass. Upon the other side of the frame are shafts 35 and 36 carrying similar wheels over which chain rides. The right-hand rod 7 carries a roller 37 and the left-hand rod 7 carries a roller 38. The frame 14 carries, in addition to the other shafts journaled therein, shafts 39 and 40, and the frame 15 supports shafts 41 and 42, it being understood that all of said shafts carry suitable sprocket wheels to accommodate the chains. That rod 6 which is lowermost in the series is, for convenience, given the specific reference numeral 43 (Fig. 4) though it should be understood that 43 does not distinguish in construction from any of the other pivots 6.

Upon the platform 1 is the pulley 44 to which the upper ends of the chains 20 and are firmly secured. It has been stated before that one end of chain 30 is secured to the drum 29, and said chain 30 passes, successively, over the shafts 32, 33, 34, 37, 42, and 41, thence under the lowermost pivot 4 upon the left-hand side, thence under the pivot 43, thence around the lowermost pivot 4 on the right-hand side; after which the chain 30 passes under each member 6, over each even-numbered pivot on the lefthand and each odd-numbered pivot on the righthand side, and so on from side to side as shown in the diagrammatic view Fig. 4. Chain 20 starts from drum 19, the position of which is indicated on the right-hand side, Fig. 4, and thence passes, successively, over shafts 35, 36, 38, 39, and 40, thence over the lowermost member 4 on the right-hand side, under the member 43, over the lowermost member 4 on the left-hand side, and thence beneath each member 6 and over each alternate member 4.

Upon the shaft three sprocket wheels are secured. Wheel 45 is fixed upon the shaft in the space between the sides 1 and 2, said sprocket being indicated only in a con ventional manner in Fig. 4, and outside of the frame 14 are the two sprocket wheels 46 and 47. At the opposite end of the machine the shaft 33 is also provided with three toothed wheels, sprocket 48 being at the mid dle of the shaft and sprocket 49 and gear 50 outside of the frame. The chain 20 travels over the sprocket 45 and the chain 30 travels over the sprocket 48; hence it will be obvious that if the shafts bearing said sprocket are caused to rotate, the chains 20 and 30 will be actuated, and if the direction of revolution of the shafts 33 and 35 be clockwise, both of the chains 20 and 30 will be wound upon their respective drums 19 and 29.

As hereinbefore stated, the top frame or platform 1 bears the double drum 44, Fig. 3,

and to said drum 44 the upper ends of both chains 20 and 30 are secured. Drum 44 is mounted upon a shaft 51 which bears a sprocket wheel at its outer end, over which sprocket the chain 52 passes (see Figs. 3 and 5). The chain 52 passes over a sprocket on the outer end of shaft 53, which shaft carries the gear 54, and gear 54 in turn meshes with and drives the gear 55 upon the shaft 56, which shaft also bears the crank 57 and the ratchet 58. Springs 59 each have one end secured to a pin 60 and the other end to a wheel or drum 61 upon the shaft 56 Fig. 6. Springs 59 communicate their action through the shafts and chains best shown in Figs. 3 and 5 to the drum 44, and the action of these members is normally to cause the chain-s 20 and 30 to be wound as tightly as possible upon said drum. The drum 44 in other words acts as a spring take-up for both of the chains, although the springs 59 will permit the drum to have a slight rotation against the resistance of these springs and thus prevent undue strain upon the apparatus, the general effect will be to keep the chains 20 and 30 pulled as tightly as possible upon the drum 44, and although it is not absolutely correct to say that the chains 20 and 30 are rigidly secured to the platform 1, yet the springs are secured so well that their respective upper ends can not pull loose.

The shaft 62 which is journaled in the side members 13 carries sprocket 63 and gear 64. Said gear meshes with and is driven by the gear 65 which is upon the same shaft 66 as the ratchet 67 which is locked by the dog 68 (see Figs. 2 and 4). A

chain 69 passes over the sprocket wheel 63 upon the shaft 62 and also over the sprocket wheel 47 upon the shaft 35, and thus if power be-applied in any suitable manner to the shaft 66 it is obvious that the rotation of said shaft will be transmitted into rotation of the shaft 35, the transmission means being obviously the gears 65 and 64, the shaft 62, chain 69, and the sprocket 47. Another sprocket wheel 70 passes over the sprocket 46 upon the shaft 35 and also over the imam sprocket 49 uponthe shaft 33, "and'the revolution of the shaft 66'is likewise translated intojrevolution ofthe shaft 33. It follows, therefore,- that since "the revolution of shafts 33and35 will cause. a pullupon the chains 20 and 30, that wheni'power is applied tothe shaft 66said chains are, respectively, caused to wind upon the drums 19 and 29, and as; the chains" 20 and30 are so wound, they will pull upon the lazy-tongs, and by pulling each member 4 toward the one which is in the same plane, will cause therlazy-tongsto be extended and the platform 1 to be" elevated. The various pawl and ratchetde-j vices'22,"23, and 27 will lock the drums 19* "and29 against-retrograderotation, and as fast as the chains 20 and 30 are fed to their respective drums, the springs 'and their companionsprings whichare provided for? the drum 29, willwind up the chains upon$ thedrums. The l'azy-tongs, therefore, when once extended'and the platform lraised cannot contract until the operator lo'osensthe pawls and ratchets which look the shafts;

carrying'the drums '19 and29. The cranlc 21*(Figs. 9 and 10) can be grasped by h operator after the p'awls are loosenedand the 'lazy 'tongs when once extended per- 'mitted to return slowly to normal position,

"the speed ofj'return being cont-rolled by the operator who grasps the crank-21. V

Since it might result in undue stress and; strain upon thelazy-tongs to rely upon the "chains 20" and 30 alo'ne for extending the device and elevating the platform, the aux-a iliary "elevating "device (best shown" in Fig. 1 2) is provided, To themembers 15,thel lever 75 is pivoted or fulcrumed at 7 6, which lever carries a gear 77 atone end and a ratchet 7 8211; the other. When'the partsare in the position shown in Fig. 2, the gear 77 willinesh with andbe driven by the gear 50 on the shaft 33. The shaft 79, which carries the gear 77 also carries a sprocket 80. A chain 81 passes over said sprocket 80 and over a sprocket wheel 82 upon the shaft 83. A rope or cable-84,- whichpasses over a.

pulley 85 carried upon the side of themem ber 16, is attached to a block 86 which'm'oves' vertically in the guideways 87. There are two such blocks 86, one on each side of the machine, and they are connected together by a rod 90, which rod 90 is adapted to press 1 upon the lowermost links 2 and 3 of the chine.

of mesh with the pinion or gear which drive it, and stoppingfurther upward movement-bfthe'blocks 86. In other words,the

lever and connected parts are permitted to remain in the position depicted in Fig. 2

until it has become evident that platform 1 is'fairly' started on its upward movement and then at any convenient. time before the block 86 has moved to the extreme upward limit of itstravel, the lever 75 can be shifted and the blocks86 will drop to starting position by gravity. 7

'The shaft 62 (see Fig. 11) carries a miter gear 93, and this gear 93 meshes with "and drives a miter gear upon the upper end of the shaft 94, F ig. 4. At its lower'end'shaft 94 carries miter'gear 95 which meshes with and" drives a miter gear 96 upon the shaft 97. "At one end shaft 97 carries asprocket 99 over'whichthechain 100 passes, and the spring-controlled clutch 101 (Figs. 11 and 12) presses against said sprocket wheel 99 and preventsthe same from rotating too quickly. At its opposite end the shaft 97 carries the two sprockets 102 and'103, over which pass, respectively, the chains 104 and 105. The chain 100 passes over a sprocket 106 upon the shaft 107 (Figs. 1 and'S) and said shaftcarries a drum 108*over which the cable or rope109 is wound. Said cable or rope passes beneath the pulley 110 and is secured "to the extensible lazy-tongs adjacent its top at 112. A similar rope or cable'113 is provided for the opposite side of the-marangement is such that as the platform 1 moves upwardly the ropes 109=and 113 will unroll from their respective drums, .and

when the platform descends, said ropes will be rewound upon the drums; [The function of said ropes is to holdthe lazy-tongs, when in elevated position, from bending or swaying and-thus keep same fromltoppling over. Thepu-lleys 110and 114 are carried upon members 115 which are pivoted to and which extend from the main body 116 of the truck. When zthe apparatus is not in use the members 115 can be folded upon the "bed 116, and the storage space necessary to accommodate the entire vehicle thus somewhat reduced. Said pulleys 110 and 114 are carried upon shafts 117 which are mounted upon blocks 118, which slide in guideways 119 against the resistance of springs 120, and the springs 120, therefore, permit the ropes 109 and 113 a slight amount of play.

The chains 104 and 105, respectively,

drive sprockets 121 and 122 (see Fig. 7) which are upon shaft-s 123. The shafts 123 carry beveled gears 124 which mesh with and drive beveled gears 125 on shaft 126.

-Arms 127 extend from shaft 126 to the boxes 128 through which the ropes 109 and 113 pass, and said boxes 128 are reciprocated The. size of the parts andtheir arin a horizontal plane 6., from top to bottom in Fig. 7 and this cause the ropes 109 and 113 to wind evenly upon their respective drums.

The framework of the members 13, 14, 15, and 16, which supports the extensible lazy-tongs, is adapted to be rotated in the manner of a turn-table upon the bed 116 of the vehicle. and the lazy-tongs may readily be turned from the position shown in Fig. 2 to that depicted in Fig. 1, in order to accommodate the device to the various positions in connection with which it may happen to be used.

The platform 1 which the pulley or sheave 129 passes.

bears a shaft 128 over A similar sheave 130 is carried in a pair of supports 121 which project outwardly from the frames 13 (see Fig. 2). Said sheave 130 is adapted to be rotated by the crank 132 which is provided with a gear 133 which meshes with and drives a gear secured upon the same shaft as the sheave 130. A belt or rope 134 passes over the sheaves 121 and 130 and to this rope the car 135 is secured, said car being adapted to be elevated or lowered in accordance with the turning of the crank 132. The platform 1 carries a pivoted brace 136 and a chain 137 by which the device may be anchored to the burning building 138 in connection with which the apparatus is to be used, and people from the building may step from the window 139 into the car, from whence they can be lowered to the ground or may climb upon the platform 1 and from thence descend to the ground in any convenient manner.

The members 131 support a shaft 140 which bears a toothed wheel 141 cooperating with the rack-bar 142, Figs. 1 and 2, the

shaft 140 being provided with a ratchet 143 atits left-hand end, Fig. 1. By turning the crank upon the outer end of the shaft 140, the rack bar 142 can be depressed from the position shown in Fig. 2 to that in which the outer end of the rack bar rests upon the ground, and this steadies the device and keeps the same from vibrating or yielding.

The framework, composed of the parts 13, 14, 15, and 16, is mounted upon a turn table 144, Fig. 2, which turn table rests upon and is supported by the main frame of the truck 116. Theextensible lazy-tongs and all other parts which are carried upon the framework may thus be turned to any desired angle upon the truck, it being noted, as hereinabove stated, that the extensible member, as shown in Fig. 1, is at right angles to the position of the same member in Fig. 2, although the truck 116 is in the same position in both of said figures. The shaft 97 passes through the center of the turntable 144 and provides asort of an axis or axle so as to cause the turn-table to turn properly.

I claim as my invention: V

A fire escape comprising a platform at one end, a base at the other, an extensible lazy tongs composed of a plurality of links each pivoted at its end and at its middle to some other link in the series, a pair of chains each secured at one end'to said platform, a pair of drums to which the other ends of said chains are secured, each of said chains being passed successively over the pivot at the lower end of a link, the pivot at the upper end of the same link and the pivot at the upper end of that link next higher in the series than the first-mentioned link, means for operating said drum and thereby extending the lazy tongs, and a spring-actuated take-up cooperating with those ends of said chain securedupon said platform.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

AREND WVIOHERTJES.

WVitnesses:

Ln ROY Nelson, J. L. FARNUM.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

